Auditory stimulation dishabituates anti-predator escape behavior in hermit crabs (Coenobita clypeatus)

Stahlman, W. David; Chan, Alvin Aaden Yim-Hol; Blumstein, Daniel T.; Fast, Cynthia D.; Blaisdell, Aaron P.

doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2011.06.009

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…While our primary interest was the rate of habituation (cf. Stahlman et al, 2011) and recovery from habituation (i.e., generalization decrement) on the generalization tests, where possible, we also collected data on latency to hide (which has proven a useful measure in Chan et al, 2010a,b andRyan et al, 2012) and hide duration (see Watanabe et al, 2012) measures to more fully explore the behavioral profile in our experiments. We had no a priori predictions about the effects of our experimental treatments on latencies to hide or hide durations, thus these measures were collected more for the purpose of exploratory analyses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies in our lab have also found that the terrestrial Caribbean hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus) shows hiding responses to looming visual images (Chan et al, 2010a,b;Stahlman et al, 2011). The methods we have employed consist of presenting visual displays on a monitor designed for human vision to explore simple learning and attention in the hermit crab.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Behavioral evidence illuminating the visual abilities of the terrestrial Caribbean hermit crab Coenobita clypeatus

Ping

Lee

Garlick

et al. 2015

Behavioural Processes

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tHermit crabs hide into shells when confronted with potential dangers, including images presented on a monitor. We do not know, however, what hermit crabs can see and how they perceive different objects. We examined the hiding response of the Caribbean hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus) to various stimuli presented on a monitor in seven experiments to explore whether crabs could discriminate different properties of a threatening digital image, including color, brightness, contrast, shape and orientation. We found crabs responded differently to expanding circles presented in wavelengths of light corresponding to what humans see as red, blue, and green. "Blue" stimuli elicited the strongest hiding response (Experiments 1, 2, & 7). "Blue" was also more effective than a gray stimulus of similar brightness (Experiment 3). Hermit crabs were sensitive to the amount of contrast between a stimulus and its background rather than absolute brightness of the stimulus (Experiment 4). Moreover, we did not find evidence that crabs could discriminate orientation (Experiment 6), and mixed evidence that they could discriminate stimulus shape (Experiments 5 & 7). These results suggest that the Caribbean hermit crab is sensitive to color features, but not spatial features, of a threatening object presented on a computer screen. This is the first study to use the hiding response of the hermit crab to examine its visual ability, and demonstrates that the hiding response provides a useful behavioral approach with which to study learning and discrimination in the hermit crab.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral evidence illuminating the visual abilities of the terrestrial Caribbean hermit crab Coenobita clypeatus

Ping

Lee

Garlick

et al. 2015

Behavioural Processes

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There have been a number of studies performed in recent years investigating simple learning in terrestrial hermit crabs (Chan et al, 2010a, Chan et al, 2010b, Stahlman et al, 2011; Tran, 2015) and characterizing the environmental and individual factors that govern their defensive behavior. However, there is a lack of experimental work detailing neurochemical functions in these animals in the production of learned behavior3.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Auditory stimuli of high intensity have been shown to be sensitizing in a number of species (e.g., Davis, 1974, Stahlman et al, 2011). In keeping with prior literature, we predicted that administration of a 5-HT antagonist (methysergide) would mitigate the impacts of irrelevant acoustic stimulus intensity, such that animals would be less likely to sensitize in the experimental drug condition relative to a control (non-drug) condition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A non-selective serotonin antagonist promotes rapid habituation in the terrestrial hermit crab

Sumra

Stahlman

2019

Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research has indicated that serotonin (5-HT) modulates non-associative learning in a variety of invertebrate species. Recent work has demonstrated that the terrestrial hermit crab is a suitable animal model for non-associative learning phenomena, including habituation, sensitization, and dishabituation. We examined the potential role of a non-selective 5-HT antagonist, methysergide, in non-associative learning in the hermit crab. We administered methysergide prior to delivering repeated stimulus presentations of a looming visual predator. We found evidence for more rapid habituation relative to a control condition in which crabs did not receive the drug. These results indicate a role for 5-HT in the defensive behavior of the hermit crab and importantly, suggest a conserved role for 5-HT in modulating basic learning processes in invertebrates.

show abstract

“…Caribbean terrestrial hermit crabs (Coenobita clypeatus ) are an ideal invertebrate system to test looming image discrimination and processing. Prior work in our lab demonstrated that hermit crabs have a binary escape response; they hide (or fail to hide) in their shells when presented with a looming image of a predator or geometric shape presented on a computer screen ( Chan et al, 2010b ; Ping et al, 2015 ; Ryan et al, 2012 ; Stahlman et al, 2011 ; Watanabe et al, 2012 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hermit crab response to a visual threat is sensitive to looming cues

Shragai

Ping

Arakaki

et al. 2017

PeerJ

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Prior work in our lab has shown that an expanding image on a computer screen elicits a hiding response in the Caribbean terrestrial hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus). We conducted two experiments to identify what properties of the expanding stimulus contribute to its effectiveness as a visual threat. First we found that an expanding geometric star evoked a strong hiding response while a contracting or full-sized stationary star did not. A second experiment revealed that the more quickly the stimulus expanded the shorter the latency to hide. These findings suggest that the anti-predator response to looming stimulus relies heavily on visual cues relating to the manner of approach. The simulated visual threat on a computer screen captures key features of a real looming object that elicits hiding behavior in crabs in the wild.

show abstract

Auditory stimulation dishabituates anti-predator escape behavior in hermit crabs (Coenobita clypeatus)

Cited by 13 publications

References 29 publications

Behavioral evidence illuminating the visual abilities of the terrestrial Caribbean hermit crab Coenobita clypeatus

Behavioral evidence illuminating the visual abilities of the terrestrial Caribbean hermit crab Coenobita clypeatus

A non-selective serotonin antagonist promotes rapid habituation in the terrestrial hermit crab

Hermit crab response to a visual threat is sensitive to looming cues

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About